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Restoration took place in New Zealand
By Alton K. Marsh
The Fighter Factory in Virginia Beach, Virginia, will soon add a restored and flying de Havilland Mosquito bomber to its collection. It was built for Fighter Factory owner Jerry Yagen with parts made from new tooling by Glyn Powell of Mosquito Aircraft Restoration and by Avspecs Ltd., both located near Auckland, New Zealand.
Avspecs is owned by Warren Denholm and his wife, Shona, and was started in 1997. The rebuilt airplane first flew in September 2012. The nearly 400-mph airplane has a final approach speed of 120 mph. Pilot Dave Phillips wrote in Warbird Digest that it's better to read about power-on stalls in the Mosquito than to practice them. "Not wanting to end up inverted in the landing configuration, we have not investigated this," he said. Denholm—who went along on the first flight—said that the aircraft has reached 380 mph on later flights.
Denholm said the roll rate is good at 200 mph but slows and the ailerons stiffen after that. "It's much better being in the cockpit looking at the instruments and discussing issues with the pilot right next to you than standing on the ground with a walkie-talkie nervously hoping that everything looks all right. The test flight was most successful, even though I didn't take a breath for 57 minutes." Based on research, the pair believed that the Mosquito "was going to be this terribly vicious airplane to handle and that it would swing violently on takeoff. None of that eventuated at all. It performed flawlessly," Denholm said.
Denholm said its value is now three times what was spent to restore it. He noted that in England it costs about $3 million to restore a Spitfire, and the Mosquito could be considered comparable to a Spitfire restoration.
You can see the Mosquito fly at the Fighter Factory's airshow, "Warbirds Over the Beach," May 17 to 19 in Virginia Beach. It also will appear in Canada at the Hamilton Air Show near Toronto in mid-June. The airplane was built near that site in 1945.
Email [email protected].
Panel precision via CAD-CAM technology
By Thomas A. Horne
A preview of the panel cutout and how the
Aspen Evolution 2500 will fit into the picture.
One of the more satisfying aspects of an AOPA sweepstakes renovation project is seeing the new instrument panel come to life. This transformation begins in small, time-consuming stages, so in the first few weeks of avionics work there's not a lot of progress apparent to the untrained eye. Sure, the original panel's old gear has been removed, but now the wiring bundles are being painstakingly assembled, the new switches and relays are being connected and tested, and the actual panel template is in the process of being cut. Compared to the panel-cutting part, the grunt work can seem mundane.
Santa Fe Aero Services had to yank out yards and yards of 50-year-old wiring—because why create a state-of-the art panel and retain the original wires?—and all that takes time. It takes even more time to assemble the new bundles. While that's going on, Santa Fe Aero digitally scanned the old panel and created a new, computer assisted design (CAD) model that's accurate to within 1/10,000 of an inch. Think the new panel will fit the perimeter dimensions of the old one? You bet it will, right down to perfect matches of the original panel's mounting screw holes, thanks to the CAD's perfect measurements.Once that was done, avionics cutouts were added to the CAD model so that they and other panel components will fit exactly into them. Computer-assisted machining takes this information and turns on the shop's computer numeric control machining router. The end result is an aluminum panel ready for installation.
At the same time, Santa Fe Aero sent out the control yokes for refurbishment, and the fuel sending units were overhauled. The old analog units simply weren't up to the standards required by the Debonair's new Electronics International MVP-50P engine and systems analyzer and, like the old wiring, it just made sense to upgrade the 50-year-old senders.
Stay tuned for more updates on this exciting project—in AOPA Pilot, online at our brand-new Debonair Sweepstakes blog, and, in the near future, on video reports on AOPA Live This Week weekly webcast.
Email [email protected].
A chartered PrivatAir 737 touched down at Troll Research Station 146 miles from the Antarctic coast in November 2012. The flight was arranged by the Norwegian Polar Institute through Aircontact, a Norwegian air charter broker. PrivatAir is headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, with bases in Germany and the Congo. The flight originated from South Africa.
The research center is in the eastern part of Princess Martha Coast in Queen Maud Land, Antarctica.
The research station does environmental and climate monitoring plus mapping. The flight took place during that continent's summer, with temperatures hovering between 5 and 24 degrees F, depending on the time of day—a heat wave in that part of the world.
The aircraft was equipped with a SatCom system to receive weather updates during the six-hour flight to the 9,800-foot ice runway. The aircraft's ability to take off and land on ice was analyzed (including engine performance), and two members of the crew received Arctic survival training.— Alton K. Marsh
This historic photo of the Wright factory buildings is from the Library of Congress.
Continuing a legacy
By Alton K. Marsh
Efforts are in progress at Dayton, Ohio, to save and display the first aircraft factory in the United States—which, since 1919, has been used to build car parts. General Motors first bought it in 1919 and built parts made by AC Delco (Dayton Electric Company) and Delphi until 2008.
Home Avenue Redevelop-ment LLC has recently taken title to the site that includes the historic Wright Company factory buildings. The acquisition puts the company in position to redevelop the Delphi plant for commercial use while preserving the Wright Company factory site for public use as an element of the Dayton Aviation Heritage National Historical Park. In 2009, President Barack Obama signed a law that expanded the national park's boundaries to include the factory site and Hawthorn Hill, the Wright family mansion in Oakwood.
Today the factories sit surrounded by larger buildings built by General Motors and Delphi. They are the oldest aircraft factory buildings still standing anywhere in the world—thanks to the car industry.
A 1911 photo shows what the factory looked like from 1910 until 1916, when aircraft production stopped, but parts were still made until 1919 for assembly at the Wright plant in Moraine, Ohio. Wilbur Wright died in 1912, and Orville sold his holdings in the company in 1915. General Motors bought it in 1919.
Hull and Associates formed Home Avenue Redevelopment to redevelop the site with the help of a $3 million Clean Ohio Fund matching grant.
"The birthplace of the aircraft industry has taken a major step toward preserving an historic treasure," said Brad White, a principal of Hull and Associates.
Wilbur and Orville Wright formed the Wright Company in New York in 1909 and built the first factory building in 1910. Aircraft production ceased in 1916. General Motors acquired the buildings in 1919 and soon converted them to auto manufacturing.
It will be a couple of years before the Wright factory is returned to its early appearance and is opened to visitors, said Tony Sculimbrene, executive director of the National Aviation Heritage Alliance in Dayton. The National Aviation Heritage Alliance is a not-for-profit corporation designated by Congress as the management entity of the heritage area. Its vision is to make the Dayton region the recognized global center of aviation heritage and premier destination for aviation heritage tourism, sustaining the legacy of the Wright brothers.
Email [email protected].
Chalet Suzanne's soup has flown in space
By Alton K. Marsh
Chalet Suzanne Restaurant and Country Inn at Lake Wales, Florida, situated on a 2,300-foot grass strip (X25), has stood since 1931 as a monument to reinvention and survivability. Dee and Eric Hinshaw are the third generation of aviators to oversee the 26-room hotel and restaurant built by Eric's grandmother, Bertha Hinshaw. Her friends included J. L. Kraft of the Kraft Cheese Company and Duncan Hines. At first she used her fine china but resorted to table settings purchased from estate sales or donated when the restaurant expanded, a tradition that continues. "This place is the epitome of eclecticism," says Hinshaw, meaning the plates, glasses, and dishes don't match and wall decorations are a disparate collection from hundreds of homes.
The restaurant has won the Florida Trend Golden Spoon Award 30 years in a row and is in the Hall of Fame. With every meal guests enjoy the restaurant's signature Romaine soup—also known as Moon Soup and canned right at the restaurant—that was selected by NASA for Apollo 15 and 16, and chosen by Russian cosmonauts for the joint Apollo-Soyuz meeting in space. Chalet Suzanne is housed in former farm buildings. You enter where the farmhands had rooms and walk through the former horse stable to the maître d'. You pass the former chicken coop on your right where the Golden Spoon Awards hang. The buildings were built between 1910 and 1920.
The restaurant was never French, yet many have that impression. It is classified as a Continental restaurant with international cuisine. Equally inaccurate is the impression that the restaurant is expensive, but the lunch menu starts at $9 for a filling salad. I had the $12 Black Angus burger that comes with caramelized onions and crumbled bleu cheese; French fries included. The taste is one no home-grill cook will ever achieve. The most expensive items on the lunch menu are the grilled twin-lamb noisettes and Maine lobster Newberg—Chalet Suzanne's classic interpretation.
The Hinshaws host a Sun 'n Fun barbeque at the grass strip each year. Eric is a former United Airlines captain who keeps a Piper Twin Comanche, a Blanik glider, a Pitts biplane, and a Cessna 140 beside the hotel.
Email [email protected].
If you go
Chalet Suzanne Air Strip (X25)
Rental cars: www.aopa.org/cars
Thomas Guy Reynolds Jr. first flew on his sixteenth birthday. And he flew again on his birthday in November 2012. "I try to fly 100 hours a year," he says. Which happens to be his age. To celebrate his first century Reynolds circled Eastern West Virginia Regional Airport, in Martinsburg, West Virginia, in his Czech-built Evektor SportStar LSA. Eastern Regional was the first airport that Reynolds ever flew from, in a Ford Trimotor in 1929. He got his license in 1943. In 1952 he got his commercial certificate—but didn't fly for the next 52 years. He renewed his private certificate in 2004. He's now logged 1,000 hours and plans to go up when he's 101. "That's pretty good for a young boy," he says.— Phil Scott
Aerial tours keep this entrepreneur flying
By Jill W. Tallman
David Snell navigates effortlessly through the somewhat congested, sometimes complicated airspace above Dallas in a Cessna 172. On this bright morning, he checks in with approach control at Dallas-Love Field with the ease of someone who's flown this route many times.
Snell operates Starlight Flight, an aerial tour company he conceived in 1991 while still an undergraduate student at Louisiana Tech. Back then, he faced the aspiring airline pilot's conundrum: He needed to log time, and since he didn't have a flight instructor certificate (he did eventually get one), his options were limited to nonstop aerial tours, aerial photography, and survey flying.
Now, 2,000 feet above Dallas, Snell points out the expanse of Lake Lewisville before pointing the Skyhawk toward a large white expanse to the west. The Texas Motor Speedway is hosting a NASCAR race, and Snell and his passenger will be able to circle the speedway before a temporary flight restriction takes effect. After some genial consultation with Fort Worth Approach, Snell receives the go-ahead to climb to 2,500 feet, well above banner-tow aircraft and helicopters hustling passengers to the speedway's helipad.
Snell doesn't own the Skyhawk—has never owned an aircraft, in fact. He rents it at $150 per hour. He charges $190 for two passengers and a 30-minute tour of the Dallas/Fort Worth area, or $245 for an hour tour. As he doesn't own the airplane, he doesn't pay for its operating expenses or a hangar. He doesn't have an office in which to meet customers. Instead, he greets them in the well-appointed lobby of the Million Air FBO at Addison Airport. (He purchases fuel from Million Air, so everybody's OK with that arrangement.) His only other costs are commercial insurance and a part-time receptionist who schedules flights.
"We have done more aerial tours than any other local operator," Snell says. "We're so inexpensive compared to my competitive market, which are the helicopters." Starlight Flight has a letter of authorization from the FAA, and its own call sign.
Snell didn't become an airline pilot, but he wanted to keep flying, and says the tour business he started in college pays for that. He owns two other businesses—crawfish catering and custom wood floors—and Starlight Flight's mostly weekend business enables him to run those without interruption. During peak season, which begins at Christmas, Snell will pay local flight instructors to take up some of the customers. "A percentage of people who go on the tour know that their spouse had an interest in flying," he says. "We're able to put them in the front seat, show them the city, take them up on a nice night, and that has led to some people coming back [for instruction]. "
Snell hopes other low-time pilots will take a page from his book. "Lower-time pilots are all under the mindset they have to flight instruct to build their time," he says. "I got my flight instructor [certificate] in 1992, and I have never signed off a student for anything. I've never instructed. I've never had to. I've built thousands of hours doing aerial tours."
Email [email protected].
About five years ago a couple of producers looked to break into reality TV with an aviation version of Ice Road Truckers. They met with Buffalo Airways, and decided to shoot a five-minute-long pilot. The program, Ice Pilots, is shooting its fifth season now.
Buffalo Airways operates daily, hauling freight and people all over the Northwest Territories and Alaska. Its fleet of 60 airplanes now includes three Lockheed Electras and the last scheduled DC–3 passenger service on the planet. "The TV show looks kind of dangerous—it's all very real," says Chief Pilot Justin Simle. "Everything that happens, happened. It's 5,000 hours of footage shot over nine months."
Simle started with Buffalo 12 years ago as a ramp worker, then co-pilot on the DC–3, then the DC–4, then C–46. As co-pilot of a Canadair 215, he got into aerial firefighting. Then he made captain on the Beech Baron, then the DC–3, and DC–4. And now he's chief pilot, in charge of flight operations.
"The most exciting footage ends up in 13 episodes," he explains. "Most of it is the mundane, actual stuff we do. For the most part it's pointing old airplanes into short runways. Part of it is hair-raising; you've got to have pretty good hands and feet. It's not a Boeing 777. The gauges are steam driven, there's GPS for reference, and we really don't need much more than that. Like I said, it's exciting for other people, but not for us. If it were that stressful we'd find another line of work."— Phil Scott
By Jim Moore
A former presidential aircraft, possibly the first to fly under the call sign Air Force One, remains in private hands, though the owners are eager to find a more appropriate home for the old Lockheed Constellation.
Dubbed Columbine II by President Dwight Eisenhower, the Constellation—designated a C–121 by the U.S. Air Force—served as Eisenhower's personal air transport beginning in 1952, when it flew Eisenhower, then president-elect, on a top-secret mission to Korea. In 1954, Columbine II was replaced as the primary presidential aircraft by Columbine III, a Super Constellation, but remained in service as a backup Air Force One until 1959. Today, it awaits restoration in the Arizona desert, following a brush with the scrapyard decades ago.
Retired from service in 1968, the military put Columbine II up for sale, along with four other Constellations that had been used for VIP transportation.
The quintet caught the eye of Mel Christler in 1970. Christler operated Cristler Flying Service, and was building up a fleet of aerial sprayers to win a government contract to eradicate fire ants. Columbine II had been fitted with landing gear designed for the larger Super Constellation, and was used for spare parts to keep the other four flying.
"It appears that the military let loose of it by mistake," Christler's grandson, Tim Crowley, said.
The constellations, according to Christler, were not well-suited to distributing the dry fire ant bait, but came into their own during Canada's battle against the Spruce Budworm, and in U.S. efforts to control grasshoppers.
In 1980, a call from the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum alerted Christler that his "spares" Constellation was a former presidential aircraft. In the years to come, Christler would team up with his son, Lockie, and other family members to restore Columbine II. Harry Oliver joined the effort in 1989, and remains a co-owner today. By 1990, the aircraft had been restored to flying condition, standard Air Force livery removed in favor of the presidential paint scheme. Columbine II was flown to various events commemorating Eisenhower's one-hundreth birthday in 1990, and joined a few airshows in 1991. Oliver and Lockie Christler have tried for years to find a buyer, or a museum willing to trade for the aircraft, but it stirred little interest until recently. Brett Crowley, Lockie's nephew and the late Mel's grandson, said active discussions are under way with the Air Mobility Command Museum in Dover, Delaware, that may give Columbine II a new home.
The owners hope to once again restore the aircraft, now stored on an airfield in Tuscon, Arizona, to flying condition, and secure a ferry permit to bring it east.
"She needs to fly at least one more time," Brett said. But Tim said making the aircraft airworthy may be a challenge: It basically needs an annual, he said—one that could cost about $200,000.
Columbine III, which replaced Columbine II in 1954 as the primary presidential aircraft, is today in the collection of the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force in Dayton, Ohio. It was the last propeller-driven presidential aircraft, giving way to the Boeing 707 under President John F. Kennedy. The Air Force began using the Air Force One call sign in the 1950s to avoid confusion with airlines operating with similar call signs. It is not clear which of the two Columbines were first flown under the now-famous call sign that indicates an aircraft has the president on board. It is well-established, however, that Eisenhower used Columbine II on several occasions, a fact that Mel impressed on his grandson in 1989, when Brett visited the aircraft during a vacation from military school.
"He showed me a mirror," Brett said, recalling a moment that left a lasting impression. "Can you see Eisenhower there?"
Email [email protected].
Join the madness of March and choose your favorite aircraft in AOPA's second annual "Best Aircraft Showdown." Help choose the starting 64 aircraft and winners from each bracket will advance until we have a winner. Last year's favorite—the P-51 Mustang—has been retired.


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Paloma Dawkins and Cale Bradbury, Alea (2015)
This past week, Fantastic Arcade, an independently curated video games arcade featuring talks, tournaments, and over 45 playable games—part of the Fantastic Fest film festival—was held in Austin's Alamo Drafthouse.
A number of the games at Fantastic Arcade this year featured alternative game controllers. Cat Nips contains stuffed animals whose bellies need to be rubbed; the gameplay in Butt Sniffin' Pugs was controlled by balls that needed to be rolled. Other games used a receipt dispenser and a gun with which one played Russian Roulette. A fair amount of the games, easily accessible in the arcade setup, featured used standard controllers and interfaces, from Playstation controllers to mice and keyboards. The audience was diverse; the only underrepresented group appeared to be X-box players (fun fact: Sony Playstation sponsored Fantastic Arcade).
Perhaps the most innovative and interesting game was Alea, a psychedelic hiking simulator designed by Paloma Dawkins and Cale Bradbury using organic materials as part of the hardware.

subset: commoncrawl


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There are two kinds of people in the world: believers and skeptics. George Bernard Shaw said: "The fact that a believer is happier than a skeptic is more to the point than the fact that a drunken man is happier than a sober one.
Sober or not, I fall pretty comfortably into the skeptical category, though I'm not quite as jaded as my mother. She can't even watch a magician without saying: "It's a trick."
"Of course it's a trick," my dad says, "but the illusion is fun."
"It's just a trick," says my mother.
Her sister, my aunt, reads her horoscope pretty regularly. When my mother says that she doesn't believe in horoscopes, my aunt says: "Of course you don't. You're a Capricorn."
On the Zodiacal chart, I'm Virgo, often described as: perfectionistic, anxious, hardworking, self-sacrificing, reliable, logical, observant, helpful, precise, interfering. I am all of those things.
Virgo is also described as cold, fussy, inflexible, introverted, fastidious, health conscious, fit, and emotionally secretive. I am none of those things.
If I am sitting in a doctor's office and if there is no good celebrity gossip to read, I will glance at my horoscope. Sometimes I agree, somethings I don't. But do I believe? No. Nor do I believe a single word that tarot card reader told me at that party last summer.
In fact, the older I get, the less I believe in much of anything. The folly of youth seems to be to believe that things will simultaneously change completely (for the better) and yet never change. Experience shows that fashion and technology change, but that human nature does not.
The belief systems of the world's religions have never seemed particularly helpful to me. I worry enough about this lifetime to spend much energy worrying about the next. I'd like to believe, as many ancient cultures do, that everything has a spirit, but I don't really care whether a rock has an inner life and I don't want to have to worry about the soul of that mosquito I just snuffed. One of the big reasons that Judaism appeals to me is that it offers more questions than answers. That seems right. Answers are elusive, maybe even irrelevant. It's the questions that count.
On the other hand, some things aren't even worth questioning. They just … are. And despite a pervasive skepticism, I do believe in a few unbelievable things. Like most parents, I know for a fact that my babies are miracles. Life itself — the spark of it — is miraculous, even if it is just a random accident rather than divine design.
Part of this miracle that it is finite. Our lives are limited and unpredictable, and most belief systems seem to stem from our need to answer the answerable: where do we come from, how long will we be here, where do we go? I don't believe that anyone really knows, at least not for sure.
I don't believe in ghosts, either, but I do know that my grandmother came to say goodbye to me when she passed away 12 years ago. She was in Michigan when she died, and I was at home in bed in Chicago. She came to my room and told me not to worry, that everything was fine and that she loved me. I saw her standing there, by the door. She didn't speak, yet I heard her clear as day. My inner skeptic didn't even question it.
You don't have to believe me. It doesn't matter whether you do or not. If you need proof, however, I did wake my husband to tell him. He patted my hand and told me to go back to sleep. When my mother called at 6:30 in the morning to tell me the news, my husband was wide-eyed and my mother had no idea what I meant when I told her I already knew.
This week, my father's sister passed away. I was lucky to get to visit her one last time a few weeks ago. As sick as she was, it was still a shock to hear that she had died so soon after our visit. I'm glad I got to see her in person, because she did not visit me when she died.
I've been lucky — my direct experience with death has been limited primarily to elderly relatives who have lived long lives. Perhaps that is why I haven't looked for further explanations.
I know people who have experienced traumatic or unexpected loss — through illness, accident or senseless violence. They often seem to want answers, or at least reasons. I have one friend who lost so many family members in such a short time, that when they moved to a new town, the first thing her son wanted to see was the cemetery. I have another friend who lost her dear husband of more than 60 years, but talks to him regularly … and he talks back. I have no doubt that she hears him.
My friend and fellow writer Shari Brady recently wrote about her belief in the paranormal, and how she uses it as inspiration for her fiction. In many ways, I think fiction writers are all trying to work out our control issues. Through writing, we have the power of life and death. Even better, we can write an entire life and then change it in rewrite.
Maybe it's a Virgo thing, since there have been many famous Virgo writers including (to name just a few): William Rice Burroughs, Taylor Caldwell, Agatha Christie, Craig Claiborne, Eldridge Cleaver, George Fenimore Cooper, Roald Dahl, Robertson Davies, Theodore Dreiser, Johann von Goethe, O. Henry, Oliver Wendell Holmes, Ken Kesey, Stephen King, D. H. Lawrence, H.L. Menken, William Saroyan, Mary Godwin Shelley, Edith Sitwell, Upton Sinclair, Leo Tolstoy, H.G. Wells, William Carlos Williams and Richard Wright.
And lest we forget that other Virgo writer, Robert Benchley, who capsulized the whole two kinds of people belief system in his Law of Distinction:
and those who don't."
Please share your own beliefs or close encounters with the other side here.
Image credit: Virgo by ~Miss--Dee at deviantart.com.


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Tuesday, April 19, 2005
t r u t h o u t - William Rivers Pitt | The Theocrats: " Imagine this scenario: A bill is introduced in the House to require children to say the Lord's Prayer each morning in every American public school. Arguments in favor of American pluralism and freedom of (and from) religion fall on deaf ears. Thanks to the massive GOP majority in the House, the bill is passed and reaches the Senate, where outraged Democrats are powerless to stop it without the filibuster. It passes there, and is placed on the desk of Mr. Bush, who happily signs away yet another barrier separating the church and the state."
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well that sucked. i don't know what could be done to make it better.
here's a thought, someone with a lot more money than i have should put out an ad series: "nba playoffs – where shi*#y officiating happens."
don't get me wrong. i'm not saying the bulls got screwed over start to finish. it was more or less equally bad for both sides. but it hurt the bulls in the end because they got the bad calls last.
look, i think all most of us want is for the games to NOT be decided by the referees. i believe it's hard being an nba ref. so, what i demand as a fan is that they call the game consistently. again, will it be easy? of course not. but that has to be the goal. it almost never seems like it is to me.
sometimes one team seems to get the benefit of the doubt. it could be because that team is a more veteran team or did a better job complaining to the league offices after the last game (or randomly complained that two of the officials at the last game were chicagoans – stupid celtics). OR, it could be one player gets the benefit of the doubt because he's the most talented person on the floor, influencing refs to avoid calling fouls on him and rush to call fouls against him. OTHER TIMES, the officiating crew on a particular night just refuses to call things consistently, regardless of which player or team they're calling against. this last case is what occurred in the bulls game tonight.
CONSTANTLY picks, shooting fouls, blocking fouls or charging that occurred or didn't to some extent were being called in exactly the opposite manner one or two plays later. you couldn't help but believe that whichever team or team's player RECENTLY did the best job of complaining earned that team the right to get a "make up" call soon thereafter. REGARDLESS of legitimacy.
all i'm saying is, why aren't nba officials held to the same IDEAL standard as the home plate umpire in an mlb game? we know everyone is human and has different judgments, vision, opinions, etc. what we demand out of our umpires is that when the ball is up and in at a given spot and called for a ball against one player, every pitch in that location is called a ball for the rest of the game. does it always happen? of course not! but that is the widely accepted standard.
the thing that drives me crazy about my beloved nba is that this consistency consistently isn't expected, certainly doesn't occur, and doesn't even seem to be hoped for anymore by nba commentators and analysts. i could give you quotes from nba writers i correspond with defending the refs. well, defending might not be the right word. it's more that they tell me, "yeah, it's messed up. so what would you do about it? david stern has nothing either." i say, "NOT GOOD ENOUGH."
we know from the tim donaghy scandal, these guys make somewhere in the $200K per year range (i have no idea why). that amount is good enough to force them to work 300 days or so per year (anybody who disagrees is free to switch jobs with me, i'll do yours, believe me, especially if it is watching nba games). if they don't like it? what was that other high paying job that refereeing basketball games made you qualified for again? oh yeah, that's right, nothing. work your ass of for this money or walk away. it's your choice and that's what we (should) demand. you're not just influencing the 30 players or so in the stadium that night. you're influencing the emotions of millions of fans. you have to work for that right. it is not, nor should it ever be, a given. when they aren't officiating, make them study tape, watch pickup games, i don't know, anything to get better. hell, bottom string PLAYERS make less than that and are CERTAINLY held to higher standards (except for brian scalabrine who is in the league only so the moronic celtics fans DESPERATELY want to BELIEVE they have an irish person [i have no idea if he has irish ancestry or not] on their team). the point is, DEMAND BETTER. i just don't see the nba doing it.
someday i'll learn. as of today, i can't quite give it up.
P.S. – what happened to KG? there was a time i believed he was the ideal nba player. he really cared about winning. he was the consummate pro. now? he's a little other word for a female dog. end of game 1 when the celtics were losing to the "lowly" bulls? he couldn't stand it and ran to the locker room out of the public eye. end of game 5? ONLY ONCE HE KNEW they were going to win, was he on some BS.
P.S.S. – sorry for all of the parentheses today. i was in the mood to not care.


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Originally Published in Inside Counsel | By Paul Mandell | July 9, 2014
As any general counsel will tell you, managing an in-house legal team requires support, whether the department has hundreds of employees or merely one. A large budget for more staff and technology can certainly help, but the most valuable forms of support come simply from developing effective partnerships with the other functions of the company. For those general counsel looking to ease their efforts without the benefit of a bigger budget, consider the following suggestions to develop transformative internal partnerships.
Become a true member of the team
As a starting point, every general counsel should consider the role that he or she wants to play within the organization. Is the role purely to flag and minimize risk and liability, or is the role more complex and tied to the broader strategy? It can be much easier to leverage the resources and support of other members of the C-suite if they view you as more of a strategic partner than as a traditional lawyer. To achieve this view, define your role for your colleagues, making clear that your interests are aligned with theirs, and your mission is to help them achieve their goals with an alternative, experienced perspective. By making clear that you are on their team, your colleagues in other functions will be much more inclined not only to cooperate with your team, but to support your efforts.
Understand the business
Legal issues are business issues. As a result, truly to be effective, the GC must know the business. "In order to give optimal legal advice, an attorney needs to understand the company's business model inside and out, whether he or she is acting as outside counsel, outside general counsel, or in-house counsel," notes Thomas Goldstein, co-managing partner of Paxton Law Group, based in Washington, D.C. One useful strategy to develop this understanding is by embedding your team in the business to accelerate the learning curve, as well as make a clear statement that you are committed to other functions. Have your team attend staff meetings and be present when important business decisions are made. Only by gaining a clear handle on the work of their peers and showing genuine interest in that work can general counsel be effective partners to others at the business, as well as gain full support for the legal team's efforts.
Don't always say "No"
Among the GC's greatest obstacles to critical internal partnerships is the perception that the in-house team exists simply to say "no." While the GC and his or her team must put the brakes on activities that pose too much risk for the business, it is important not to go too far in the avoidance of risk. "A lawyer who serves as a strategic partner to a business understands that some risks are necessary for the venture to grow and prosper," notes Goldstein. He cautions that "if you say 'no' too often, the business people will stop listening to you, which can lead to serious problems in the future."
Look ahead for the business
Use your perspective to support strategic growth while minimizing risk. Use your knowledge of the law to anticipate and evaluate legal or regulatory changes to find strategic advantages for the business. By putting your training and experience to work for the rest of the company, not only will you gain more buy-in from your executive colleagues, but you could help drive the business forward in ways that you and your in-house legal peers may never have expected.
No general counsel is an island. Building partnerships with other functions is a critical way to add more value to the business, as well as make the in-house legal team's work easier. And without such partnerships, a general counsel all but assures a more challenging experience than necessary.


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Declarified Proverbs
Dear Tom and Ray,
As a longtime fan of your show, I know that you are two educated men with impressive vocabularies. (WHO IS SMARTER, AND WHO HAS THE BEST VOCABULARY?)
Well, I am putting you to a test.
Change each of the statements below into a well-known proverb:
1. Precipitancy creates prodigality.
2. Tenants of vitreous abodes ought to hurl no lithophilous fragments.
3. It is not proper for mendicants to be indicative of preferences.
4. Compute not your immature gallinaceans prior to their being produced.
5. It is fruitless to become lachrymose because of scattered lacteal fluid.
6. Cleave gramineous matter for fodder during the period that the orb of the day is refulgent.
7. Pulchritude does not extend below the surface of the derma.
8. Failure to be present causes a vital organ to become more enamored.
9. Freedom from guile or fraud constitutes the most excellent principle of the procedure.
10. Consolidated, you and I maintain ourselves erect; separated, we defer to the law of gravity.
11. You cannot estimate the value of the contents of a bound, printed narrative of record from its exterior vesture.
12. Folks deficient in ordinary judgment scurryingly enter areas on which celestial beings dread to set foot.
13. Liquid relish for the female anserine fowl is the individual condiment for the male.
14. A feathered creature clasped in the manual members is equal in value to a brace in the bosky growth.
15. The individual of the class Aves, arriving before the appointed time, seizes the invertebrate animal of the group vermi.
16. One pyrus malus per diem restrains the arrival of the Hippocratic apostle.
17. Be adorned with the pedal encasement that gives comfort and protection from the earth's surface.
18. Fondness for notes of exchange constitutes the tuberous structure of all Satanically inspired principles.
19. Every article which coruscates is not fashioned from aureate metal.
20. A rotating lithohidal fragment never accrues lichen.
Patricia Ameo


text:
Read here from Bedard/jsonline. Aaron Kampman is no longer a Packer. Part of me is sad that he's gone. I really liked Aaron Kampman and what he stood for as an athlete in and out of football. He was by all accounts a super decent guy and I'm always left with a feeling of loss when a good character guy leaves the family.
But I have to admit, Steve and I had called for his trade last year – we could have gotten more than the likely compensatory pick we'll get for him now. I just don't think he would have been able to contribute a whole lot this coming year as a LB (though he might have helped in hybrid 4-3 or 4-4 line-ups up on the line).
I hope for his sake that Kampman tears it up down in Jacksonville.


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One More Frigid Morning
Clouds & south winds warm us fast
One more frigid morning with readings well below zero. Light winds and clear skies overnight allowed temps to fall fast last night. Clouds and south winds will warm us fast with highs in the low 20s.
There is just a slight chance for a few flurries or a light, icy mix tonight. Much better chances for rain and freezing rain for later Friday and Friday night. Lows tonight hold in the low 20s and readings will begin to rise toward morning. Highs Friday reach the mid to upper 30s. Rain and a freezing mix begin to approach by late afternoon. It's a tough call for the freezing rain and mix. Just a degree or two will make the difference between a cold rain and freezing rain or mix. Roads may become slippery tomorrow night.
Clouds are sticky for Saturday as highs hold in the low to mid 30s. Weekend best bet weather is for Sunday with a partly sunny sky and highs near 40 for a mini thaw!
Send your winter weather pics to Ulocal on wisn.com, my Twitter @seversonsally or our Wisconsin Weather Updates Facebook page.


text:
|OmniPlan Pro 3.12.3 Multilingual MacOSX-一款非常強大的項目管理軟件
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OmniPlan Pro 3.12.3 Multilingual MacOSX-一款非常強大的項目管理軟件OmniPlan 2.4.1 Multilingual Mac OS X
OmniPlan 是 Mac OS X 平台的的一款非常強大的項目管理軟件,它提供的功能包含了自定檢視表、階層式的綱要模式、成本追蹤、里程碑、任務限制與相關性、資源分配、時程控制、Gantt 圖表、違反事項顯示、關鍵路徑等等。
除了附帶項目策劃專業用戶需要的Gnatt圖等多種功能外,此軟件可直接運行Windows下的 MicrosoftProject文件,也可以導入Microsoft Project的XML和Fasttrack Schedule文件。同時,OmniPlan可輸出到iCal, CSV, MPX, XML, HTML等數據來輔助各項功能。
OmniPlan v3.x Multilingual MacOSX |
OmniPlan is designed to help you visualize, maintain, and simplify your projects. Break down tasks, optimize the required resources, control costs, and monitor your entire plan-all at a glance. Collaborate with your colleagues and share every detail, update a calendar with your days off, or mix and match.
Accept and reject changes one-by-one or all in one go. OmniPlan provides features like Gantt charts, schedules, summaries, milestones, and critical path highlighting to let you manage all of your activities. From customizable views to fast data entry, OmniPlan helps you manage projects that are as simple or complex as you need them to be-without the complexity.
• Publish & Subscribe [NEW!]: Stop, collaborate, listen. Make changes to your project and see those from your collaborators with syncing; customize your availability and have your colleagues' calendars update instantly. Mix and match your publish and subscribe actions to meet your needs.
• Change Tracking [NEW!]: Use change tracking to keep tabs on and review the changes you've made in your project so far. If you're syncing, use change tracking to review, browse, and then accept or reject changes (task by task or en masse) from your collaborators.
• Friendly Interface: We designed OmniPlan to help you spend your time on more worthy pursuits than trying to figure out how to use project management software. OmniPlan's intuitive approach helps you get things done and stays out of your way while doing so. OmniPlan has several customizable views starting from "simple creation" for basic planning options; when you're ready for more sophisticated functions, OmniPlan can be configured to meet your needs.
• Data-sharing options: OmniPlan can import XML, MPX, and MPP project files from Microsoft Project 2003 - 2010, as well as OmniOutliner, OmniGraffle, and CSV files. OmniPlan exports information to iCal, CSV, Microsoft Project (MPP), Microsoft Project Exchange (MPX), Microsoft Project (XML), HTML, OmniOutliner, OmniGraffle, and a variety of image formats. You can create detailed HTML reports with OmniPlan, and use filtered criteria for customized printing and exporting options.
• Efficient resource allocation: With OmniPlan's resource management, you can identify bottlenecks in your project, track budgets, and distribute workloads fairly and efficiently.
• Visual timelines: The Timeline (or Gantt Chart) view of your project displays activities in a calendar. Durations for each task are shown graphically in a time-phased diagram by day, week, month, quarter, or year. The Gantt view shows task start and stop times, dependencies, resources, or resource usage by task, all on a timeline. You can visually edit tasks and create dependencies (where a certain task can't begin unless another has finished) by dragging and connecting them in the Gantt view. OmniPlan's graphical display of your project's information helps you quickly assess status and proactively manage deadlines.
• Violations and critical paths: If your schedule has a logical impossibility - for example, the scheduled start date for a task occurs before the project start date - OmniPlan displays a violation window, with an explanation of the problem and suggestions of possible solutions (and links that automatically resolve the violation). In the Gantt view, OmniPlan displays your project's critical path, which is the series of tasks that are necessary in order for your project to finish on schedule. The critical path can change as you progress through your schedule; OmniPlan keeps you up to date so you can make informed decisions.
Compatibility: OS X 10.10 or later, 64-bit processor
Languages: English, Dutch, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Russian, Simplified Chinese, Spanish
Home Page - http://www.omnigroup.com/omniplan/


text: Day 16 Carol White Addie 9 mos. Whoops you've landed here... It could be one of a couple things... you're just not logged in... Please visit the "login" link in the menu membership expired... Please renew your membership here a technical error... Please reach out to us at email@example.com Thanks! Alice Username Password Remember Me Forgot Password


text:
Living Under Persecution
Bill Loughlin recommends When Hitler Took Austria by Kurt and Janet von Schuschnigg.
A Memoir of Heroic Faith by the Chancellor's Son
By Kurt & Janet von
Ignatius Press, 2012
329 pages, $24.95
To order: Ignatius.com
(800) 651-1531
On March 11, 1938, as Austria prepared to vote on independence, an ultimatum from Adolf Hitler demanding the March 13 plebiscite be canceled was delivered to Chancellor Kurt von Schuschnigg. The next day, German troops poured into Austria. The Anschluss had begun, and it would last until the end of World War II.
Chancellor von Schuschnigg, a Catholic, paid dearly for his opposition to unification with Germany. He was arrested and imprisoned in the Sachsenhausen concentration camp, along with his second wife.
That same day, Father Hugo Montjoie, prefect of the Jesuit boarding school Kollegium Kalksburg, informed 12-year-old Kurt von Schuschnigg that his father had been arrested.
"The Nazi ship of state, with a full wind at its back and captained by the little Austrian-born corporal, sailed on," according to the younger von Schuschnigg, or Kurti, as he was affectionately known to friends and family. "In its wake bobbed the flotsam of its victims."
The author's odyssey during the war years would have its ups and downs. These included a couple of visits with his father, as well as interviews with Heinrich Himmler, head of the feared Gestapo.
It was during one of his visits with his parents that Kurti's mother asked him to visit then-Bishop Konrad von Preysing, who gave him an envelope containing a consecrated host for his father. "I was happy for Father," he wrote. "His faith had sustained him these many years; but for the devout Catholic, to be denied the sacraments was a great deprivation."
Perhaps the high point — apart from Kurti's ultimate survival — occurred in his time as a cadet in the German navy. He was assigned to the heavy cruiser Prinz Eugen and was working in the ship's engine room when it was struck by a bomb dropped from a German aircraft piloted by a Russian.
He was hospitalized in Konigsberg with burns and lung damage. With the advance of the Russians, the hospital was evacuated. From then on, during his journeys through Germany and Austria, he successfully avoided the Gestapo, who were searching for him as a deserter. The constant fear of betrayal and the burdens of searching for food and a safe place to rest until his ultimate arrival in Switzerland only made his travels that much more difficult.
The young Schuschnigg's remarkable powers of observation worked to his great advantage, however. Early on, he spotted the pattern the military police usually followed when boarding trains in search of people on their wanted lists. He somehow managed to come up with various documents that threw authorities off his trail. And, when the occasion required it, he was quick-witted enough to fabricate stories on the spot as to where he was headed or where he had come from.
In addition to a foreword by Cardinal Christoph Schönborn and a preface by von Schuschnigg's American-born wife, the book contains 24 pages of photographs and an index.
Bill Loughlin writes from
Glendale, California.
- Keywords:
- August 12-25, 2012


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NIGHTWISH: Fan-Filmed Video Footage Of Entire Final Concert Of North American Tour
Finnish/Dutch symphonic metallers NIGHTWISH played the final concert of their North American tour this past Sunday night (October 14) at the House Of Blues in Orlando, Florida. Fan-filmed video footage of the entire show can now be seen below.
Dutch singer Floor Jansen (REVAMP, ex-AFTER FOREVER) made her live debut as the frontwoman of NIGHTWISH on October 1 at Showbox Sodo in Seattle, Washington.
Jansen is handling lead-vocal duties on all of NIGHTWISH's currently scheduled tour dates after the group parted ways with Anette Olzon at the end of September.
In a blog post on her official web site at FloorJansen.com, Floor said, "It is now 10 years ago I joined NIGHTWISH on tour with AFTER FOREVER as their support act. We stayed in touch ever since and that made the whole situation so much easier and smooth."
Olzon joined NIGHTWISH in 2007 as the replacement for Tarja Turunen after the latter was fired in 2005.
NIGHTWISH stated about the sudden singer switch, "In recent times it has become increasingly obvious that the direction and the needs of the band were in conflict, and this has led to a division from which we cannot recover."
They added, "We are all strongly committed to this journey, this vehicle of spirit, and we are sure that this will lead to a brighter future for everyone.
"We forever remain excited about the adventures to come, and we are extremely proud of the two beautiful albums and the wonderful shows we shared together."


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McFarland village president found dead
Police: Nothing suspicious
MCFARLAND, Wis. — The McFarland village president was found dead in his home Wednesday, according to city officials.
Village administrator Don Peterson told WISC Mike Harried, 51, was nearing the end of his third term as the village president. Harried served four terms as a village trustee before being elected president.
Peterson said Harried was an employee of the Wisconsin Department of Transportation.
Police Chief Craig J. Sherven said there's nothing to indicate anything suspicious about the death.
The village board will have the option of holding a special election to fill the president's seat, but Peterson said it's more likely the village board will appoint a trustee to the position because the current term only lasts until April.


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In two words or less describe East Oakland. I'll wait.
I am going to bet the first words that come to mind do not include "white people."
Based on the majority of news coverage of the area, your answer would more likely refer to black people and crime. Let's look a little wider and a little deeper.
For many who don't live here, and probably for many who do, you might be surprised to know citywide, people described as white make up 34.5 percent of Oakland's population, while African-Americans make up 28 percent, according to 2010 U.S. census figures.
These percentages break down differently district to district, but it is fair to say Oakland's demographics are changing and with them, the makeup of East Oakland neighborhoods like Maxwell Park, where I live.
Dena Proctor, a 51-year-old woman of English and Irish ancestry, has lived in East Oakland the past nine years. She moved there from Berkeley to live with her partner when he bought his first home there in 2003.
Proctor lives in a modest single-family house on the crest of a foothill of Maxwell Park, an area loosely bordered between High Street and 55th Avenue, just below Interstate 580 and extending west to about Brookdale Avenue.
"It's not slick. There's an un-slick element," Proctor said of her neighborhood. "But I really quite like it."
It has its problems, like the guy who apparently operates as an unlicensed car dealer and keeps at least four junkie vehicles parked around her house at any given time.
And serious crime has hit close to home, including a home burglary across the street from her house. A woman was robbed at gunpoint down the street when she was coming home from work.
It helps that the neighborhood has a strong community group, Proctor said, although she doesn't participate in it. She said she has a "waving relationship" with most of her neighbors. Since getting a dog a few years ago, she's befriended an Italian-American woman in the neighborhood who runs a dog day care business, and she has gotten to know other dog owners in the neighborhood.
Does Proctor ever experience any racial hostility? "Kind of, yeah," she admitted, "but not in any direct way." There was a road-rage incident on MacArthur Boulevard when a black motorist called her a "white (expletive)." But in those situations, people will just pick out any identifiable characteristic to hurl a cheap insult at you, she said.
Intellectually, she knows too much can be read into appearances, but a young black male strolling through the neighborhood, sporting dreadlocks and his pants cinched at the groin, still puts her on alert.
Proctor does have black friends, and in fact her partner is black. She's also friendly with the interracial couple (African-American and Asian-American) across the street.
And she frequently talks to an elderly African-American woman in the neighborhood who slowly makes it up the street with her walker every day, looking to get a little air and a break from her dialysis.
What about gentrification?
"If gentrification means people getting shot while driving in the neighborhood," Proctor dryly retorted, referencing a shooting that occurred about a week ago a couple of blocks away from her home, "we haven't seen any gentrification or any big changes since the market bottomed out.
"One black family moved in the neighborhood within the past year. And even when things were looking up, High Street" — a major artery bordering Maxwell Park — "didn't look any better."
One of Proctor's favorite places in East Oakland is the Sausal Creek Trail near Fruitvale Avenue in the Dimond district. She often takes her dog, Kate, there and they disappear into a lush, storybook forest that no one would believe is in the middle of a concrete jungle.
The best thing about East Oakland? "Just having a home, your own space," Proctor said. "It's an affordable neighborhood where, overall, the good outweighs the bad."


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As a part of my master's degree program a few years back, I hit the road to figure out, once and for all, what I wanted to be when I grew up. With the completion of graduate school looming on the dusty horizon while the economy fell into rapid decline and my personal life became plagued with the challenges that life often presents, I traveled to a vision quest destination, led by North Bay guide Maria Gutierrez.
After several hours of winding roads, I arrived, car sick, in the Inyo National Forest of the Eastern Sierras. Equipped with only an avocado, a few gallons of water and a pocket full of Emergen-C vitamin powder, I threw my sub-zero sleeping-bag over my shoulder and carried the smallest tent in the world into the wilderness to get better acquainted with whoever the hell I was.
The blanket term "vision quest" is a reference to ancient indigenous practices throughout the world that are used as vehicles of transformation from one stage of life to the next. Regardless of tradition, surprises and insights are revealed simply by sitting still outside—for a really, really long time.
My first day consisted of choosing the spot I would sit in for three days and setting my space up, which was simple and fulfilling in itself. The next day, however, was rough. I was overwhelmingly pestered with thoughts that distracted my purpose. I fantasized about sex, beer and ice cream—the few pleasures I had deprived myself of for the month leading up to the quest. I was frustrated. I was starving. I missed my kids. I grew increasingly cold as the clouds snuck through Yosemite's Tioga Pass and hovered over the bristlecone pine I was nestled under.
After fears of mountain lions or meth freaks attacking me in the night proved ungrounded, I grew irritated with myself and wished that some cute backpacker would appear, bearing beer and ice cream. Finally, I gave in and stripped down naked in a fit of utter fear and heart-crushing vulnerability. "To hell with it," I thought. "If I am going to do this, I am doing it all of the way." With my bare ass revealed to the heavens, I sobbed in the rough, clay-like dirt, suddenly open to discovering something new inside.
The following days ushered me into a fairly solid but constantly changing understanding of myself. Most importantly, I left with tools that I frequently use when life throws me sucker-punches. And though I have yet to leave society behind for another costly and intense prolonged quest into the woods, I have found that spending even one day alone in a gorgeous North Bay forest is enough to get me centered, focused and prepared to face the world—especially when followed by sex, beer and ice cream. Maria Gutierrez leads her next Vision Quest in the wilds of the Mono Lake Basin this June. www.soul-centeredhealing.com.—D.B.
It was a blistering August day when a friend rang to see if I wanted to go swimming. With a hearty yelp of glee, I gathered my bathing suit, towel and sunscreen and jumped into the car, ready to head out to Healdsburg where she'd said the spot was located. I'm fairly new to the North Bay, and when she began heading west on River Road instead of toward the freeway, I got confused. We turned right at SRJC's Shone Farms, and ended up on a curving tree-lined road heading north, taking the back road into glorious wine country. I breathed in the vegetable smell of the lush, late summer vineyards, marveling that I would never again need pine for a traipse through France. Here it was in my own backyard. We arrived at the outskirts of Riverfront Regional Park, and in the tradition of those seeking the best out-of-the-way swimming spots, parked precariously on the side of the road. We gathered our swimming accoutrements, and a dusty path opened up to a view of a large, gleaming blue pond surrounded by groves of redwood and pine. It seemed we had the whole place to ourselves. My friend told me how the last time she'd been there a ranger lectured her when she attempted to swim in the pond, warning her of the danger from submerged objects in the depths below. We headed instead for the river for an afternoon of lounging on a perfect diving rock over the glassy, refreshing water, an egret watching from a log and the sun warming our bellies as we ate apples above the waterline.
Located adjacent to the Russian River, the 300-acre regional park was transformed from a gravel quarry in 2007. Fishing, hiking through small stands of trees—utterly quiet as a result of the thick blanket of pine needles that cushion the ground—makes for an amazing day out. 7821 Eastside Road, Healdsburg. Open 8am to sunset daily.—L.C.
At first glance, the options for camping in West Marin seem like a sleeping-bag version of the Playboy Mansion vs. the Astro Motel. "Hon," I said, after hours of online scouring, "we can either stay at a $500 bed-and-breakfast for our anniversary"—met with a twisted face of confusion—"or, um, it looks like we can sleep on the beach in Bolinas, for free." Grim prospects for the romantic getaway, indeed, until a friend directed us to the Olema Campground! Rates are around $30 to $40 a night, payable by an old-fashioned check in the old-fashioned mail, and once your tent is all pitched, you can rent horseshoes, do your laundry, pet some feral cats, play croquet and send a postcard from the in-house post office. The docile emanations of lowing cattle pierced the dawn's calm while we fiddled with the Coleman and mixed up the Bisquick with red food coloring, trying in hilarious futility to shape our pancakes into hearts. 10155 Hwy. 1, Olema. 415.663.8106.—G.M.
In early 2008, heavy rains overwhelmed a Marin County wastewater treatment plant, resulting in the spillage of about 3.5 million gallons of raw sewage. Following two system breaches in the span of a week, the refuse flowed into Richardson Bay, closing the popular recreation spot to boaters and fishers, and endangering wildlife. One report colorfully illustrated the first spill by noting that the amount of sewage, if molded into a rectangular, gelatinous sewage sculpture, would cover an entire football field, including both end zones, in more than six feet of sludge. The Sewerage Agency of Southern Marin was fined
$1.6 million, and Richardson Bay, the once pristine arm of the San Francisco Bay, unceremoniously received the "Best Place to Contract Hepatitis" mantle. But there is redemption in this parable. The following year, only half a million gallons were spilled in the bay. Officials from the Sausalito-Marin City Sanitation District found the leaking pipe, which was losing about 250 gallons of untreated sewage every minute, and fixed it as soon as they could during the first low tide. As for the engineer who had to wade out there to fix it, we can only hope that he or she was adequately compensated for what happens when a person throws up inside a HAZMAT suit. After the heavy rains that characterized the beginning of 2010, one might expect that the bay should be in for another good bucketing of crap, but instead, the wildlife and the water remained mostly free of untreated sewage. So Richardson Bay, after falling from grace, is redeemed as one of the best places in North Bay to enjoy some nature. Greenwood Beach Road, Belvedere Tiburon. 415.388.2524.—K.M.
Most of us jump-start each new year with high ambitions that might include taking up knitting, tossing out the cigarettes for good, learning a foreign language, losing 20 pounds, landscaping the backyard or opening an orphanage in an impoverished country. Most of these ambitious attempts at New Year's resolutions are soon met with defeat when we tally up the costs of classes, services, and airfare to and construction costs in Malawi. To add insult to injury, if you have found yourself with extra free time because of a layoff or reduction in work hours, you have also found yourself lacking the funds to partake in any of your desires. Luckily for women in Sonoma County, improved fitness, at least, is just a wheel-spin away and absolutely free. Santa Rosa's Nor Cal Bike Sport offers free Saturday morning ladies' rides at 9:30am every weekend. With experienced staff member Jen Toland leading the moderately challenging, 20- to 30-mile rides, cyclists are sure to get back into the swing of a fitness routine in the most beautiful cycling terrain in the world. Meet Saturday mornings at NorCal Bike Sport, 425 College Ave., Santa Rosa. 707.573.0112.—D.B.
A geneticist, a mycologist, an editor and a third-grader got into a boat. The editor was skeptical about the voyage, but the mycologist was adamant. The geneticist merely lied. "This is a family tradition," she told the third grader as the group set unsteadily out upon the Bolinas Lagoon on Christmas Eve morning for the first time ever. The mycologist neglected to consult the tide chart, the geneticist shouted rowing instructions, the editor misnamed migrating birds, the third-grader asked about breakfast. Out they went, steering clear of sleeping sea lions, which they suddenly perceived as being unnaturally hungry for yuletide humans. Yuletide, neap tide, low tide. Lower tide. No tide. The mycologist wouldn't believe it. The geneticist made the best of it. "The boat is supposed to skim the mud," she told the third-grader. The boat slowed, the boat stopped, the boat stuck. The mycologist leaped out. The editor leapt as well. The geneticist said, "This is part of our family tradition." The third-grader wept quietly, certain that Santa would never find them now. The mycologist pushed. The editor shoved. The boat moved. The mud sucked. The shoes remain, awaiting next year's annual family tradition. 4900 Shoreline Hwy. 1, Stinson Beach. 415.868.9244.—G.G.


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When a Wal-Mart Supercenter moved into the remote Chinese city of Loudi, it sent a signal to the world ag economy: China's food demand is not only growing, it's shifting.
Supermarket chains moving from wealthy Beijing and Shanghai to second-tier cities in China's interior means middle class incomes are on the rise. The country's unstoppable economy has armed households with greater spending power and created demand for higher-priced dairy products, poultry, fish and processed foods.
"The rapidly shifting nature of China's food economy simply defies desc," explains Scott Rozelle, Stanford University ag economist and longtime expert on China. "It is complicated, diverse and changing fast. China has moved from a socialist country that once banned markets to the largest market in the world."
China's eye-popping gross domestic product (GDP) growth is helping drive food demand through the roof, Rozelle says. Even on the heels of worldwide economic crisis, China's GDP growth was 8.9% in the third quarter of 2009,
according to the World Bank. By contrast, U.S. GDP was up 2.8% in the same time frame.
As the incomes of China's more than 1.3 billion people rise, food demand beyond traditional staples of rice and wheat will jump 50% during the next seven years, according to Rozelle's analysis. "This is a food demand pressure the world has never seen before," he adds.
Can China feed itself? For more than a decade, economists have been probing the issue of who will feed China. Lester Brown, an economist with the Worldwatch Institute, wrote in his 1995 book "Who Will Feed China?" that "when China starts importing, there may not be enough grain in the world to meet that need."
With 20% of the world's population and less than 10% of the cropland, China has been surprisingly successful at feeding itself without relying heavily on imports, according to Fred Gale, senior economist with USDA's Eco-nomic Research Service.
On the domestic front, China has an agricultural economy supported by 200 million farms that are the average size of a football field, Rozelle says. "There remains a lot of subsistence farming in China," he adds. However, there are also increasingly specialized farm operations, such as pork production, milk and aquaculture.
China's agricultural productivity has been rising by about the same rate as in the U.S., Rozelle says. He credits rapid adoption of technology. Chinese farmers put in new varieties every year, for example, and quickly adopt high-tech production techniques.
As a result, Chinese corn yields are continually increasing. "China is putting all of its eggs into the biotech basket," Rozelle says.
China's Minister of Agriculture, Sun Zhengcai, has announced plans to enhance agricultural modernization with an increased investment in ag research and development. In 2007, China spent $500 million on agricultural research and development; by comparison, the U.S. government spent $400 million.
"The threat of starvation remains a huge issue in China, so the government sees food security as a state issue and is investing in it," adds Ross Korves of the ProExporter Network.
The Chinese are instituting greater openness and efficiency in distribution of agricultural products. However, most Chinese still sell products through brokers and navigate a maze of back roads that make China an inefficient place to move food and feed, Rozelle says. "There is no insurance, no regulation and 20 million people who claim their job is to trade agricultural products," he explains.
Trade is tricky. China shifted from a protectionist country in the 1980s to the fourth largest trading country in the world, and agricultural trade has doubled during the past 20 years.
China's growing demand has been a major factor in the boost in U.S. soybean and oil markets. Ten years ago, China's annual soybean imports accounted for less than 8% of world soybean imports. In 2008, China's soybean imports comprised half of the world's total.
Yet gauging China's enthusiasm for U.S. agricultural products has always been tricky, and it remains so. The country has yet to fully open its doors to U.S. grains. Trade tariffs and China's policies on grain prices at the farmer level, along with the desire to build its own inventory stocks, will likely keep the country out of the corn export market in the near term, says Cary Sifferath, senior director in China for the U.S. Grains Council (USGC).
DDGS open doors. Ironically, U.S. exports of distillers' dried grains with solubles (DDGS) to China hit record levels in 2009, according to USGC. Higher Chinese corn prices due to drought in parts of the country have made DDGS competitive and popular with the feed and livestock industry, Sifferath says.
Total DDGS exports to China for 2009 surpassed 300,000 metric tons (MT), Sifferath says. By comparison, approximately 8,000 MT of U.S. distillers' grains were imported to China in 2008.
Sifferath credits U.S. efforts—sponsoring DDGS workshops in China and bringing teams to the U.S. to showcase the high quality of grains—for building a market in China.
"We still have some constraints to overcome before the Chinese DDGS market will flourish. Feed registration is the largest constraint on importing U.S. DDGS into China," he says.
Modern farms bring hope. While there is great expectation for U.S. exports into the growing Chinese markets, the reality is U.S. exports to China are dominated by a few products, Korves says. China imported $12.1 billion of agricultural products from the U.S. in 2008, with soybeans at $7.3 billion and cotton at $1.16 billion. The next largest imports were hides and skins, followed by poultry meat.
"They have not begun to tap the wider U.S. agricultural market," Korves explains. "If their investment in agricultural research can be translated into more output at the farm level, they will continue to supply
domestically at least part of their growing food demand."
Still, economists see hope for U.S. grain trade with growth in swine and dairy production facilities and industrialization of Chinese livestock.
"There are huge gains to be made in trade with China," Rozelle says. "The ag economy of the U.S. and food economy of China are a perfect match.
"We need to continue to advocate for free trade," he adds. "China should be willing to open up its grain markets if we will open up our fruit and vegetable markets."
You can e-mail Jeanne Bernick at [email protected]
Fast Facts
-China's Market Potential
-China is the fourth largest economy in the world, after the U.S., Japan and Germany.
-Projected 2009 Gross Domestic Product growth for China is 7.2%, according to the World Bank.
-China imports more than half of the world's soybeans.
-U.S. exports of dried distillers grains with solubles have more than doubled in 2009


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Boston Marathon officials concerned with PTSD
Just as American troops often come home with painful memories that can overtake their daily lives, so did the survivors of the Boston Marathon.
Two weeks after the Boston bombings, marathon officials are making sure runners and spectators are doing OK. Since the marathon, the Boston Athletic Association sent several emails in all with warning signs for post-traumatic stress disorder and resources to help.
Participant Pete Crawford had just hit the 26-mile mark when the explosions went off.
"If I think about it, I still have pretty vivid images of what happened that day," Crawford said.
Crawford said he isn't dealing with PTSD. In fact, he spent Monday afternoon cheering on his granddaughter at a track meet.
The Boston Marathon was Crawford's 20th marathon, his sixth in Boston. Although he didn't finish, he will get a metal for proof he overcame more than he could ever imagine.
"I've said it. I could live without being an official finisher considering what happened, but I can also tell you that it means a lot to me," Crawford said.
Crawford said the Boston was likely his last race. He said he shares his sincere thanks for all the support from friends and strangers.


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"other methods you can bet on golf
April 23, 2012 11:41PM
"other methods you can bet on golf
There is 1 named the 72 holes betting. once the game enthusiasts are actively playing a gaming of placing 72 holes and strangely sufficient the winner isn't the 1 using the optimum scores however the 1 using the lowest scores! If you have
best golf online
you can swing more flexibility The wagers can bet on them as nicely as the winner is invariably determined inside end. These game titles invariably have room for betters due to the fact once the gaming ends inside a tie there sill might be a winner. The betters do not must encounter disappointment. There nevertheless continues to be nevertheless the situation that when the satisfy receives decreased and cancels out prior to the 72 holes are finished there is no winner. You may take
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Product Availability
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Vapur Anti Bottle Water Bottle - Pink 16 oz.
Anti Bottle Pink
This Vapur Anti Bottle Water Bottle in Pink is a reusable Vapur water bottle which features a revolutionary space-saving design. Vapur water bottles are extremely flexible and almost entirely collapsible - they are designed to fit where ordinary water bottles do not: when empty they will easily fit in your pocket, backpack, purse, briefcase, and so on.
Reusable Vapur bottles can be flattened, folded up, rolled up, and more for easier carrying and to save valuable space. When full of water this Vapur bottle stands up, yet when it is empty it can be rolled up, flattened, or folded.
This reusable Vapur water bottle comes equipped with a Vapur Sports Cap, though it can also use a Vapur Screw Cap (not included). Replacement Vapur bottle caps are available to order as well; see Vapur Sports Cap replacements (4 pack) and Vapur Screw Cap replacements (4 pack).
Vapur Anti Bottle water bottles also feature a matching caribiner clip for attachment to backpacks, bookbags, camping equipment, purses, belt loops, and more. For personalization and identification, the Vapur Anti Bottle includes a text area where you can write in your name.
Vapur Hot Pink Reflex Anti Bottle (16 zo.) Specifications:
- Color: Hot Pink Reflex
- Capacity: 16 oz.
- Included Spout: Sport Cap
- Dishwasher Safe: Also freezeable and packable
- Dimensions: 10.5" (length) x 4.5" (width) x 1.25" (depth)
- Material: Made from flexible yet very durable FDA-approved BPA-free plastic (copolyester)
This refillable and reusable Vapur water bottle is a responsible, eco-friendly alternative to constantly buying and carelessly throwing away disposable plastic water bottles. Made with BPA free plastic, the inner layer is odor, taste, and stain resistant. As such, the Vapur Anti Bottles will not retain or impart any off flavors or unpleasant odors.
This 16oz. Vapur Anti Bottle water bottle is also known by Vapur number V-22PS-16-PNK.


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Interdisciplinary Studies
Students may choose to major in an established interdisciplinary program supported by faculty committees or design an independent interdisciplinary major. Established programs are African American studies, American cultural studies, Asian studies, biological chemistry, classical and medieval studies, environmental studies, neuroscience, and women and gender studies. Students should consult the chairs of these programs for information about requirements and theses.
Students undertaking independent interdisciplinary majors should consult the section of the Catalog on the Academic Program (see page xx). Independent interdisciplinary majors are supported by the Committee on Curriculum and Calendar and students should consult the committee chair for information about requirements and theses.


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Milk Pitcher of stainless steel - classic
The barista champion's choice. The steel (18/10 grade) is probably twice the thickness of any cheaper pitcher, giving it real heft. The shape is amazing for rolling milk, and the beak is sharp for pouring art. This is one of those products that once you put your hands on it, you just know it is worth its value.
Made in Italy.
Capacity: 35cl


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Rice University offers a variety of benefits and programs to assist you when traveling both inside and outside the United States. These programs include Aetna urgent care, travel insurance, international travel coverage, and airport parking discounts.
Do you commute to work? Chances are you can save big on taxes. Go green and save some green!
Train. Bus. Van pool. Parking your car at the station or at a non-Rice facility. However you ride, the Commuter Benefits Program lets you pay for your eligible commuting costs through automatic, pre-tax payroll deductions. It works wherever you do: for any transit system, anywhere, plus any non-Rice parking provider or van pool operator nationwide.
The more you spend, the more you save on your taxes — up to $1,680 each year. And all it takes is a quick online order to get your pass delivered to your home every month and set up direct, automatic monthly parking payments.
Do you commute to work from Sugarland, Katy, or Humble? If so, you may want to consider using MetroStar Van Pool.
Additional information:
Learn more about the MetroStar Commuting Benefits Program here. →
What is a "Mothers' Room?"Rice's first lactation room is a place for nursing mothers to pump breast milk or nurse their child in a private and comfortable setting.
Where are they located?
- There are two:
- The first is located in the renovated "lounge" area in the women's restroom near the Grand Hall in the RMC. It is a secure, private, walled-off environment with a sink, refrigerator, etc.
- The second is located on the fourth floor of Fondren Library in Room 411. Visit Fondren Library's Mother's Room page for a list of features.
I'm a new mom and would like to use this room—how do I access it?
- RMC Location: Stop by the Information Desk in the RMC/Ley Student Center to get the access code—no key necessary. Please do not share the code with others, as we would like this space reserved only for those who need it.
- Fondren Location: A key is available for checkout during Visitor Hours at the East Entrance (quad side) Service Desk. For more information, please visit Fondren Library's Mother's Room page.
For many of us, family is very important. Rice offers many child care resources for your family while you are at work. Rice's Child Care Resources are available to all Rice faculty and staff. Examples may include programs at the Recreation Center, YMCA, or at the Rice Children's Campus. We also provide tools for additional resources around Houston.
Rice is pleased to provide backup care for any member of your family that depends on you for care through the Back-up Care Advantage Program® All benefits-eligible faculty and staff are eligible for the program.
In addition to disability programs, Rice University provides certain holidays and paid time off programs for staff.
Rice also has benefits that cover work-related injury, family illness, bereavement, professional, primary care giver and military service leaves, which may be granted with or without pay. Each policy may apply to different populations at Rice, so please read each policy carefully (the top of the policy should clarify to whom it applies).
As a Rice University employee, you have access to membership and special discounts at several area banks, including Smart Financial Credit Union, Frost Bank, and Chase Bank.
With your current Rice ID card, employees may apply for membership at the Faculty Club, receive discounts at the campus bookstore, and use all facilities on campus: recreation center (with paid membership), library, and more!
Rice University is a qualified employer under the federal Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) program. The federal PSLF is a program that allows certain federal student loans to be forgiven after 10 years of repayment. To benefit, borrowers need to have a qualifying loan and sign up for a qualifying repayment plan. After 120 on-time, qualifying monthly payments, the remainder of the loan(s) is forgiven.
Are you caring for an elderly parent, aunt or uncle? Do you ever feel overwhelmed with the complex set of needs that seem to be constantly changing? If so, we have the benefit for you, brought to you by Bright Horizons.
In addition to the short-term, in home elder care that you have access to through the Bright Horizons Back-Up Care program, benefits eligible employees now have access to the Bright Horizons Elder Care program. With that program you can
- Coordinate care through an online platform that you can share with other caregivers and family members
- Consult with a experienced Care Coach who will follow your case over time
- Obtain on-site care assessments and obtain a customized care plan
- Obtain legal help, financial guidance, and verified referrals.
To learn more, watch this short video. To enroll in the program visit clients.brighthorizons.com/rice. Use employer username Rice and password backup7.
Assist America is always in place to help those experiencing a travel or medical emergency when traveling 100 miles or more away from home, any day and any time. The newsletter also has helpful travel tips.
For any questions or updates to this page, please contact the Benefits Team.


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Background Verification for Drivers in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh is easy now
Conducting Background Verification for Drivers in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh is as challenging as finding them in the city.
Although there are the usual offline choices available, however, accomplishing them is not entirely convenient.
- First, get a Police Verification / Background Verification Form from the local police station or your building's office (or get it online from the website of city police, if it is available there)
- Fill the form for the Driver with his full details
- Submit the filled verification form to the nearest police station
- At times, even visit the local police station with the Driver
- Revisit if some of the documents are not as per the requirements
- Get the approved & stamped copy of the Police Verification / Background Verification Form picked up after a few days
In our busy lifestyle, specific exercise sometimes becomes a task. And therefore, most often, we never get into it. We end up avoiding such a necessary job, till we can.
It is estimated that only about 18-20% of us go through the whole exercise of proper Background Verification of Drivers in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh. And the rest of us take a copy of Driver's ID and rely majorly on the reference who got us the Driver.
But think about it:
Does taking a copy of ID means your Driver carries a clean background?
Would the reference who got you the Driver take the person's guarantee?
Would having just an ID copy ensure that your family is 100% safe now?
It is not that every Driver carries a stained background. Most of them are truly genuine people wanting to have a decent earning life.
Helpers Near Me connects with many such Drivers, almost every day. A reason why we can confidently say that a considerable percentage of Drivers out there are indeed genuine. They all want to work diligently and earn a respectful living.
However, there are a few of them who either want some quick money or have hidden motives. Usually, it is this small set of Drivers who stain the entire Drivers Community.
By conducting a Police Verification for Drivers or a detailed Background Verification for Drivers in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, one ensures one's family is well protected & secured, in all possible ways.
Such a professional background verification also ensures the decision to hire the Driver is not based on someone's verbal reference but based on proper verification, due diligence, and documentation.
To help you with Professional Background Verification for Drivers in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh or other Helpers in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, here's a new initiative from Helpers Near Me. This service lets you verify your Driver online in the most convenient way possible. Plus, it is also easy to pocket – just Rs.199/-.
Imagine, getting a detailed Professional Background Verification Report of your Driver in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh. A report which checks Driver's ID, Criminal Records in District Courts and a physical check of his Present or Permanent Address in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh.
This kind of a detailed Background Verification Report suddenly brings in a new level of 'true kind of background verification' that most of us haven't seen or heard of so far.
Here are 3 quick online steps that you need to do for Background Verification of your Driver in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh. And all of it can be done in just a few minutes, that too directly through our mobile phones.
- Step 1: Initiate your Verification Request (as shown above)
- Step 2: Fill your Driver's essential details, only if you have (Name, Phone, Govt. ID number & Address). Or you can choose to fill in only your details (Again just your Name, Phone & Email)
- Step 3: Make a payment of just Rs.199/- through our secure payment gateway (Either through your Paytm Account or by your Credit/Debit Card or Net Banking).
That's all.
Once you have initiated your Background Verification request for your Driver in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, you would get a formal report within 7-10 working days of your request. The detailed Background Verification report of your Driver gets emailed to your email id directly.
And in case if there is any additional information required, Helpers Near Me Team may get in touch with you.
Helpers Near Me, along with it's associate Background Verification Company, BetterPlace, follows a 2-Step Professional Verification Process:
- ID Verification - Your Driver's Govt. ID gets verified through genuine Government sources
- Criminal Records Verification - In this case, your Driver's Criminal Records are scanned in District Courts around your Driver's address, through reliable Government District portal that details Criminal Cases of every individual if there are any.
Additionally, if you opt for Physical Address Verification of your Driver's residence, that is also possible.
This kind of a detailed Background Verification Check is conducted via our associate company's integration with UIDAI, NSDL, and reliable Government District portals.
With this kind of a Professional Background Verification Check, you get transparency into Driver's Identity, Antecedents, and the Character.
This kind of verification allows you to take an informed decision on the person you have already hired or about to hire.
To conclude, with this new Background Verification initiative of Helpers Near Me, you have an option to be 100% sure of the background of your Driver.
If you are still relying on your Driver's ID copy, we suggest you verify your Driver today!


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Drawings Service
is now excepting photos via email. We will have one of our artists
hand draw the photo(s) and we will send it to whoever you wish via
Post Office OR with your flowers. Please give enough time for the
recipient of the Photo Drawing Service to receive the drawing(s).
If you want the drawing(s) to be delivered with your flowers, please
allow at least two weeks. If we cannot have the drawing done after
you had made the order, we will refund the full amount of the Photo
Drawing Service.
Please contact us if you have any questions
regarding this service.
to the Bangkokflowermarket.com homepage


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Tag Archives: 2106
JDM Old School Style Hits Russia
Can you identify this awesome Japanese-style sled? No? Well, don't beat yourself up too bad — it was a trick question. That's because the car is a Russian VAZ 2106 steeped in vintage JDM style. With Hoshinos, bolt-on flares, shakotan … Continue reading


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A man on parole for burglary had dozens of iPods and smartphones at his West Side home when police and parole officers visited there Friday because of recent neighborhood burglaries and he bragged to them he would "steal anything," according to police.
Daniel Ramirez, 22, of the 2100 block of West Huron Street, was arrested at his home about 10 a.m. Friday, according to police. He is being held in Cook County Jail in lieu of $50,000 bail after being charged with felony theft of more than $100,000 in goods and felony unlawful use of a weapon by a felon, according to jail records. Officers also arrested another man, Adam Salas, 41, after they found him at Ramirez's home and he dropped drugs in front of them, according to a police report.
Ramirez is accused of the theft of more than $100,000 in goods, including more than 80 iPods, numerous iPads and cell phones, about 20 bicycles, and other items including laptop computers and jewelry, according to police.
Wood District Tactical officers and Illinois Department of Corrections officers visited Ramirez's home when district officers investigating a rash of burglaries in the West Town neighborhood identified Ramirez as a "person of interest," according to a news release. They found Ramirez at home, and he told the officers he had the run of the home, including a back bedroom, which had its door closed, according to a police report.
When they opened the bedroom door, Salas came out and dropped drugs, according to police. Salas had 30 grams of heroin and 21 grams of crack cocaine, as well as "a large quantity" of drugs and equipment used in the drug trade, according to the release.
Police found some of the stolen property in the back bedroom, along with a .40-caliber live round, according to the report.
While sitting at the kitchen table talking to the officers, Ramirez told them he would "steal anything from anywhere," according to the report. Ramirez also claimed to have moved property from his mother's home in Des Plaines about a month ago, according to the report.
After Ramirez was arrested, the home's owner told police they could search the property, and they found more property inside two vehicles in the garage, according to the report.
In addition to the electronics, jewelry and bikes, police also found numerous cameras, a few wide-screen televisions, gas grills, golf clubs and numerous other items.
Ramirez was ordered held in Cook County Jail in lieu of $50,000 bail on Saturday, according to jail records.
Police were scheduled to allow possible victims of burglaries to view the stolen items at the Wood Dstirct, 937 N. Wood St., from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Monday and Tuesday. Police asked that anyone wishing to claim their goods bring proof of ownership, such as receipts.
Latest Breaking News
Police spokeswoman Melissa Stratton is hopeful that the rightful owners will be reunited with their valuables.
"We've invited the public in Monday and Tuesday to view the property and reclaim it," Stratton said.
Twitter: @ChicagoBreaking


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7 Useful Pinterest Tools You Should Know
Pinterest has grabbed the attention of many social media marketers and has gathered millions of fans since its debut two years ago. With amazing tools, you can easily share any photos you found on the Web and socialize with anyone in the world through Pinterest. It makes sharing easier, and you can make friends with many more people who share your interest.
Initially just for image-sharing, u can even study your social activity and find out your score on Pinterest, so you'll know how social you are using the simple web application, and how your social activity can potentially benefit you.
In this article we have compiled 7 useful tools you can use with your Pinterest from analyzing your pinterest activity to study your score and influence, pinning quotes, adding additional button as well as activity column on Pinterest page.
Recommended Reading: More Pinterest-related posts
1. Pinpuff
Pinpuff is where you can calculate your Pinfluence, a measure of your popularity on Pinterest and it also provides the value of your every pin. To get started with your analytics on Pinpuff, go to the website and fill in your email and your Pinterest username, then click on the button 'Calculate your Pinfluence'.
You will be redirected to your pinfluence page, where you will find your pinterest analytics.
In the score page, you will be presented with your total score at the right hand sidebar next to your Pinterest profile image. You will also get to know an estimation of your pin valuation as well as cost per click. Apart from that, you will see your reach score based on your follower and activity score.
There's also a virility score, and you can also find out the total followers, pins, repins and likes of each board you created in Pinterest.
2. Pinreach
Similar to Pinpuff, Pinreach also provides you with analytics to study your influence on Pinterest except without the value estimation you can find in Pinpuff. It does however have othe features to offer.
To use Pinreach, visit the website and click on the 'Sign Up' button and fill up the registration form together with your Pinterest username.
When registration is completed, you will be redirected to your analytics page. There are four tabs available on Pinreach to study your Pinterest activity in details.
The first tab 'Analytics' is where you will be able to see your total pins, repins, likes, followers and more from the right sidebar, and you will also see graph of your score as well as activity changes since you last login to Pinreach.
Boards will show you the total number of pins, repins, followers and comments based on boards you created on Pinterest.
The Pins tab will show you a collection of your popular pins on pinterest.
Influential Followers
This tab will let you know who are among your followers has a strong influence on Pinterest. You can also click on their image to find out their Pinreach.
3. Pin A Quote
Pin A Quote allows you to post a quote to Pinterest. Although this is just a small part of what you can get from Pinstamatic, Pin A Quote makes it easy with their bookmarklet – you can simply post a quote by highlighting a text on any website much like how you Pin an image from a site.
To grab the bookmarklet, visit the Pin A Quote homepage, drag the button 'Pin A Quote' to your browser's bookmark bar, and it is ready for use.
To pin a quote to Pinterest, all you need to do is simply highlight any sentence or quote you found on any website, then click on the Pin A Quote bookmarklet. A form will appear, fill it up and post it to your Pinterest.
4. Pin Search
Pin Search is an extension for Chrome browser that will let you easily find more related photos and information of a photo you found on Pinterest.
To start using, head over to the Pin Search extension page on your Chrome browser and click 'Add to Chrome'.
Once added to Chrome, open the Pinterest website and you will see an additional 'Search' button at the bottom of the 'Comment' button, when you hover over any images on Pinterest.
Clicking on this 'Search' button will direct you to a Google's search results page that is related to the image you selected.
5. Recent Activity Expander
Also an extension for Chrome, Recent Activity Expander will add an extra column on the left side of your Pinterest page, and list down all recent activity related to your account. It allows you to see who has followed and repinned your items since your last login.
To start using, head over to Recent Activity Expander's Chrome extension page and add it to your Chrome. Once added, open Pinterest website and you will see your Recent Activities in a column on the left.
6. Pinterest Right-Click
Pinterest Right-Click is an extension for your Firefox browser, it adds an additional right-click item to your right-click menu so you can pin any photos you found on the Internet.
To get this, open the Pinterest Right-Click extension page on your Firefox and install.
Now when installation is completed, you can search or browse any images from your Firefox, and when you find any photos you want to pin to Pinterest, right-click on the image and select 'Pin image'.
When you selected 'Pin Image', as usual a popup window will appear for you to fill up the details of the image, which board you want to post the image to etc. Once completed, select 'Pin it'.
7. Pinterest Pro
Pinterest Pro is another Chrome extension that comes with 3 main features to enhance your Pinterest experience: 'Pin to Pinterest' accessible by the right-click menu, image zooming and 'Popular Pin Dropdown'.
You can have these features on your Chrome browser by installing Pinterest Pro from the extension page. To pin a photo, just select 'Pin to Pinterest' by right click. A new tab will appear; fill up with the details of the image and it will be posted on your Pinterest board.
When you browse a Pinterest page, you can enlarge every pinned image without having to click on that image. Simply hover over any image with your cursor and the image will be enlarged.
The third feature is the Popular Pin Down button you can find at the top-right corner of your browser. Click this button to check out the latest popular content on Pinterest without having to load the website.
Now with these 7 tools, you can start to analyze your social activity on Pinterest and do more research on how to reach your audiences or grab more influence that would be beneficial for Internet marketing, be it for your personal online presence or for your company's.